whitman



WOODSUNI & WHITMAN.

Railway Sleeper.

N0' 91,893 Patented Junezg, 1869.

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H. WOODSUM 'AND F. H. WHITMAN, OF HARRISON, MAINE; SAID WOODSUM ASSIGNS HIS RIGHT TO SAID WHITMAN.

Letters Patent No. 91,893, dated June 29, 1869.

IMPROVE!) RAILWAY-SLEEPVER The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To all whom it may concern :l

Be it known that we, E. H. WOODSUM and F. H. \VH1TMAN,both of Harrison, in the county of Gum,- berland, and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improved Sleeper; and we hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others to make and use our invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ot this specification, in which- Figure 1 shows a top plan.

Figure 2, a side view.

The purpose of this invention is to make such a change in the construction of railroad-sleepers, as that their durability will be much increased, and also that lighter and softer material can be used for such sleepers, and still equal or greater durability be attained than when made in the ordinary method.

Itis a familiar fact that wood, when shrinking by reason of becoming dry,vdoes not contract in the directions of its grains, but across the same. It is also Awell known, that with railroad-sleepers made of wood,

they soon become splintered, broken, and worn at the point where the rails ot the road cross and rest upon the same. The frequent jar and pressure wear them at these points before at any other.

Our invention seeks to remedy this, as follows:

We first cut a recess at or near each end of the sleeper, where the railwill rest upon the same, when laid on a road. Inito this recess, we tightly t pieces or sections of hard, fine-grained, or durable wood.

This will always `remain tightly fitted, because of the peculiarity before named, that the 'piece will not shrink in the direction of its length or grain, and we propose to have the grains of the piece thus inserted to run in the direction of the length of the sleeper.

Then the wear of the rail and the jar of passing trains has less eiiect upon the sleeper, by reason of the hardness of -theb wood where the lrails rest upon the said sleeper, and consequently much cheaper and less durable wood 4or lumber can be used for the sleeper itself, without detriment to its Vability to wear. It will thus wear as long or longer than harder wood.

In the accompanyings drawing, the sleeper, constructed of spruce or some. other like wood, issho'wn at A, and a. shows the section of solid hard wood inserted therein for the rail to rest upon. Y Y

These recesses, and pieces to tittherein, can be` ont with ease and rapidity by the use of proper machinery.

We do not claim .merely setting blocks of wood into or on a railway-sleeper. Neither do we claim s npporting the cross-ties on beams set within the railroadembankment. Neither do we claim elevating the rails on blocks of wood, so that the cross-ties can be placed beneath the soil, to protect them fmm the weather.

Our invention is dilierent from this in purpose and construction. 'IVe purpose to claim merely the irnprovement to the sleeper herein shown, which provides amore durable part for the rail to rest on, where it 4crosses the sleeper. Neither do we claim the inserting of one kind of wood into another, so that the piece inserted shall not shrink in the bed or recess; but our inventionreiers to an improved railroad-sleeper.

' \Vhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Y The improved railway-sleeper, constructed as described, to wit, with the transverse cuts therein, and the blocks of hard wood inserted therein, as. herein described.

v E. H. WOODSUM. F. H. WHITMAN.-

Witnesses:

J ons MARTIN, M. A. WmzrMAN. 

